There Is Never Jealousy Where There Is Not Strong Regard
by mattsloved1
Summary: An old friend of John's comes to visit. While having tea, John sees a smirk on his friend's face and soon realises Sherlock is sitting a great deal closer to him than he was when they first sat down. ;-)


**Once again, thank you MapleLeafCameo for going through this for me! I do not own, therefore I do not profit.**

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It was the smirk. That's what made John pause. Unable to find anything funny in the conversation they'd been having, John looked away from Maria and towards Sherlock. Seeing the dark look on his husband's face only increased John's confusion. John frantically worked his mind back to the beginning of the day.

The morning had seen Sherlock finishing some paperwork with Lestrade while John made certain the flat was cleaned up. He had received word his friend Maria was in London for a few days and he'd invited her to the flat for tea. The two had grown up together and she was the only person from home John had kept in touch with.

With only a few hours before her visit, John wanted all traces of ash and body parts safely put away. Not that Maria would be surprised, but good manners instilled by his Nan had John making sure everything was just so. Sherlock had returned an hour before their guest was due to arrive. To ensure the flat remained as it was for the next 56 minutes, John threatened Sherlock with no sex for the ten days if any hint of a mess appeared.

Maria had arrived on time and chosen to sit in John's seat while the two men shared the sofa. Sherlock had been, surprisingly, polite to their guest. Even going so far as to ask how her work was progressing. All had seemed to be going well. So what was going on?

Coming back to the present, John heard Sherlock gloat about the importance of his role in the apprehending of a serial killer who painted clown faces on his victims after slitting their throats. As he watched Maria shudder, while Sherlock embellished the gory parts of the case, John turned towards his husband with the intention of changing the subject. It was then John noticed something he hadn't before.

While they had started on separate cushions an hour earlier, Sherlock was now plastered to John's side, his left arm wrapped tightly around John's shoulders while his right hand rested on John's thigh. _Okay, _John thought, _definitely a lot closer than we were before._

He glanced towards Maria. She had noticed John's observations and was again smirking. Before John could ask what was going on Mrs. Hudson called up the stairs.

"Sherlock dear? Do you think you might be able to come downstairs for a minute and replace a bulb in my kitchen light fixture?"

Sherlock scowled and opened his mouth to reply.

Knowing it would be a negative answer, John quickly answered instead. "Not a problem, Mrs. Hudson! Sherlock will be right down!"

"Oh, thank you! I hate to be a bother when you have company, only it's getting dark outside and I want to do some baking," their landlady explained.

Giving Sherlock a jab in the ribs earned John a glare, one that he answered back with a determined look. Eventually Sherlock sighed and stood up from the sofa.

"I'm coming, Mrs. Hudson." Before leaving the room, Sherlock turned to give Maria a pointed frown.

After hearing the kitchen door close, John turned to Maria. "I honestly don't know why he's behaving this way."

Chuckling, Maria answered, "That was a good old fashioned case of jealously."

"Jealous? What could he possibly be jealous of?" John queried, bewildered.

"Of the trouble we used to get into together. Of how much history we have even if we never thought of each other except as an adopted brother or sister."

Maria helped John take the tea service into the kitchen.

"Once we began talking about all the scraps we got into he started sliding closer to you. Get to our first kiss when we were thirteen and his arm was around your shoulder."

John set the teacups in the sink to soak. "I didn't even notice."

"Of course you didn't. You were too focused on what we were talking about."

John shook his head. "Wait a minute, is that why you mentioned us going skinny dipping at Nan's the summer you turned fifteen?"

Maria tried to look guilty. "I wanted to make sure my suspicions were correct. When his hand moved to the top of your thigh I had to stop myself from laughing at the terrifying look he gave me."

"Still, I'm sorry he was rude to you."

Maria chuckled as she patted John on the arm. "Don't apologize. It didn't bother me a bit. In fact, it was nice to see how possessive he is of you."

"I'm not an object he can keep to himself," John grumbled.

Smiling at her friend, Maria agreed. "No, you aren't an object. But I would say, in his defence, Sherlock doesn't see you as one either."

She made certain she had John's attention before continuing. "However, you are _his_ husband and, from what you've told me, there have been times when he is overwhelmed by the fact you care for him when no one else ever seems to have before. You are an anomaly and I think that gives him the right to be a bit selfish don't you?"

"I suppose." John drew Maria into a tight hug. "You really are something else, you know?"

Pulling back, Maria threw John a smile before answering, "I should hope so!"

Hearing footsteps on the stair, the pair made their way back into the living room in time to see Sherlock re-enter.

"Got Mrs. Hudson taken care of then?" John asked, as he made his way back to the sofa.

"Yes, yes," Sherlock answered, as he sat next to his spouse.

Without looking, John reached over and took Sherlock's nearby hand. Bringing it over to his knee, John laid his hand on top and started rubbing his husband's inner wrist.

Seeing the tall figure literally melt into her friend's side, Maria smiled. "Sherlock, before you were called away you were telling me about a case you had just finished. Would you mind telling me what clues lead you to the culprit?"

John smiled gratefully at his friend as Sherlock happily shared how he had connected the pieces Scotland Yard's finest had missed. Maria continued to ask questions and the conversation continued pleasantly until John noticed it was nearly six o'clock.

"Oh, Maria, your cab is due in a few minutes."

A quick glance at her watch showed there was just time enough to say goodbye.

"So it is," she said, as they each stood up from their seats. "I'd love to stay and visit longer but I'm afraid my flight back to Venice leaves first thing in the morning and I have to pack as well."

Once her coat was on, Maria turned to Sherlock. "I'm glad I was finally able to meet you."

Sherlock extended his hand, "It was a pleasure."

Maria smirked as they shook hands. "I'm certain it was."

Instead of stepping away, Maria moved closer and wrapped her arms around Sherlock whose arms twitched awkwardly at his side until he mirrored the actions of the woman next to him.

Leaning up, Maria whispered, "Thank you for taking care of John, for giving him a wonderful life and for loving him." A kiss was pressed to the detective's cheek. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to him, I think."

Maria then followed John out the door and down the stairs.

Sherlock watched out the window as a black cab pulled up. The two below shared one more laugh and hug before Maria got into the waiting vehicle. The doctor waved as the cab pulled out into traffic.

By the time John came back up, Sherlock was stretched out on the sofa. Deciding the dishes could wait a little longer, John walked over until he was beside his husband's head.

"Budge over," he said, while toeing off his shoes.

Sherlock moved over until John had enough room to lie down with his head on his husband's chest, long arms wrapped around the shorter man.

"Feeling better?" John asked.

Deciding it would be foolish to try and lie, Sherlock answered, "Yes."

"Glad to hear it. You do know there's nothing to be jealous about right?" John distractedly ran his free hand over Sherlock's hip.

"She was your first kiss and you saw her naked."

John helplessly giggled.

Torn between being confused and irate, Sherlock demanded, "What is so funny?"

"Growing up there was a boy named Gilbert Atherby. He had a crush on Maria for years, ever since she'd rescued him from the school bully. Anyway, Gilbert was always trying to steal a kiss from Maria and she was terrified he would succeed. One day she came up to me and begged me to give her a kiss. Said even if Gilbert managed to take one he wasn't going to get her first one."

John moaned happily as Sherlock's long fingers started massaging his back.

"Because she was my best friend I agreed. It lasted less than a second and we both wiped our mouths off with our hands after. I guess word got back to Gilbert because he never tried again. In fact he started following another girl around instead, which didn't hurt Maria's feelings."

"And seeing her naked?"

John sighed. "It was a hot summer's night and we both wanted to go for a swim. That's all. I never thought of Maria as anything but another sister. And, you'll be happy to know, she was flat as a washboard until just after she turned eighteen. So even if I had been interested, which I wasn't, there wasn't anything to see anyway."

"Perhaps not," Sherlock allowed, "But she did see you."

"Considering the cold water there wasn't really anything to see even if she had looked."

After a few minutes of comfortable silence John spoke again.

"She was right you know. You are the best thing to ever happen to me."

Sherlock's arms tightened and John knew that meant he felt the same.

"I would not be opposed to meeting your friend Maria again in the future. She is intelligent and pleasant to have a conversation with."

"Coming from you that is quite the compliment." John said. "I'm glad to hear you say that since she said she liked you and has given us an open invitation to visit her in Venice whenever we like."

Sherlock began to run his fingers through John's hair. "I suppose that would be agreeable."

"Yes, after all, having another friend might be nice." John softly kissed Sherlock's chin.

"Yes," Sherlock agreed, "it might be very nice."


End file.
